One Piece 720 – Pin Her Down & Make Her a Woman!

You have got to hand it to Oda sensei – his ingenuity is second to none when it comes to the craftsmanship of both characters and themes. I gladly confess – I think I might have just shot myself in the foot. It appears that Rebecca, the busty gladiator of Corrida Coliseum, does stand a very good chance of emerging as the next Straw Hat recruit! The warrior dwarf Leo is, of course, my first choice, but there’s no denying it – my impression of Rebecca has changed for the better big-time and she has surely made a very strong case for herself. For starters, she is a female character, a denomination that is well underrepresented – and I’m convinced none of us, not even a supporter of an alternative, would be opposed to having an extra pair of X-chromosomes on board! Rebecca’s backstory is, for certain, a profoundly interesting one. There are bits and pieces that point to a tragic childhood, famished and shrouded in dysphoria – and let us not forget, she also shares a rather intriguing history with the mysterious gladiator Ricky, and of course, there’s a tie-in with the Thunderous Soldier of Rage as well! It’s truly a tale of two cities, the glee and jubilance that define Dressrosa are nothing more than a sham – and concealed beneath its bustling façade, therein lies the rub, a wretched fate that continues to haunt its inhabitants until this day. Whether it’s the “convicted” gladiators or the “forgotten” toys, they’ve all had a very rough time. Rebecca’s tearful remarks were pretty heart-wrenching to say the least – it was somewhat akin to a plea for help, one that is reminiscent of Nami’s most memorable line, “Luffy, tasukete”! The next few chapters will probably shed some light on Rebecca’s past and I have a feeling it’s not going to be a pretty picture – a slew of tear-jerkers, commotions and heartbreaks that await us in the flashback!

Clearly, Rebecca has made her mark – but she’s not the only one who has left us with a strong impression this week. There was an unexpected about-face to the characterization of Bartolomeo and it seems to me the infamous Cannibal might need a new moniker to go with it – Bartolomeo the fanboy, that sounds just about perfect! Yes, you heard that right – as it turns out, Bartolomeo is Luffy’s biggest admirer, a fanatic which is by no means inferior to that of a stalker! Bartolomeo is surely a fascinating package of contrast – savage and brutal on one hand, but meek and a bundle of nerves on the other. I’m not quite sure what to make of this revelation just yet – he’s probably not an outright foe, but I’m hard pressed to call him a comrade as well. The circumstance which surrounds Bartolomeo is not nearly as clear-cut as that of Don Chinjao’s – who has evidently emerged as a very powerful ally for the Straw Hats! The “Drill” has, indeed, made a comeback, and the old man is flushed with joy and gratefulness – so much so that he has put the entire Happou Navy under Lucy’s command, just as a token of gratitude! Then there’s the Blackbeard Pirates who, in my humble opinion, remain one of the most fascinating element in the mix and where their ultimate loyalty lies is still to be determined. A larger conspiracy appears to be in play and it has brought a cluster of heavy-hitters into the big picture – Marshall D. Teach, Jesus Burgess, Shiryuu of the Rain and Aokiji, the former Marine Admiral, just to name a few! What this means for the overall narrative is hard to say – Oda sensei has introduced some pretty grand ideas and as far as I can tell, we have just merely scratched the surface. A new height for the series could be within reach, as the Pirate Alliance Saga slowly but surely marches toward an epic of extravaganzas!

“Who lives under a rock, right under the sea?” – L002, a commenter from last week, was kind enough to point out the great resemblance between Don Chinjao and Patrick Star! An observation worthy of our laugh-out-louds – well done, my good Sir!

tl;dr:@SeishunRC – #OnePiece 720: Pin her down & make her a new nakama! I think I might have just shot myself in the foot #Manga

She’s too serious of a character and not near as unique and powerful as the rest…

I ever they were to get a new one this arc, I’d say it may end up being block-soldier (unlikely since he seems to be the love interest of pink haired bazongas)… maybe Cavendish, so that he fills the “ikemen” slot of the crew ;P “Bartolomeo the fanboy” is a long-shot, but can arguably fill the “bromance” slot :P Of course I’m still routing for Law to officially become part of the Strawhat brigade XD

No new nakama, but definitely a shrew of new allies or alliances. Luffy and Law would become the pioneers of a new alliance that would take down the Yonko, while absorbing other leaders to their cause, perhaps Bellamy, the Fishmen, Bartholemew and that old guy.

Bleach has Yachiru-chan, Naruto has Sakura, I guess a pink hair girl as a crew member may have a chance.

Of course, it seems that Boo and Sai may have a chance if dear “Patrick” just grabs a Jellyfish net and a jar to capture Luffy so they can talk properly; hopefully he won’t mention his treasure to Nami, she would easily give a punch to turn that head back to normal if she doesn’t get what she wants (if she can’t have a treasure then no one can).

Then there is the Bartolomeo, so we may have another pirate joining the alliance. When you think about, his powers will likely come in handy since it may protect the Strawhats from a certain Admiral’s meteor attack and use that force to destroy the “Smile” factory.

have to say I don’t think bartolomeo being on Luffy’s side was too surprising… Though this was just Bartolomeo’s choice of words when he told Cavendish that he wouldn’t be killed by him. It sounded like Bartolomeo was saying “he’s too strong for you” and it was only Cavendish who said “so you’re going after him too”, Bartolomeo neither agrees nor disagrees. Because of this, it seemed suspicious to me, that he didn’t mention a direct threat against Luffy, despite that being what the conversation was about!

Meh. Rebecca is another model Robin replica. Midriff and all. Oda’s become pretty sexist in that regard. I guess he’s serving fans who casually make rape-joke slurs like “pin her down and make her a woman…”

It was all Kurama’s fault :P
I’m very sorry if I’ve somehow offended you, but come on, aren’t you reading a little bit too much into it? I didn’t even make the connection until you brought it up. It was meant to be a wordplay on “make an honest woman of someone” which means “marrying her” or in this context, “make her a nakama” – since, you know, romance is non-existent in One Piece XD

Sexism is frightfully dismissed in reality and more so on the internet. As I said, it’s also a glaring issue with Oda’s idealist depiction of strong and heroic woman in OP. Notice how Nami and Robin’s figure proportions have altered slightly over the years to accommodate less character and more booty? Fanboys won’t like anyone dissing Oda, even over something a indefensible as sexism.

I’ve been a fan of One Piece since mid 2000s but I’ve come to terms with that fact that he’s lost his way on this one.

@kage Where the hell were you for all the other anime out there with much more extreme sexism? One Piece has the least amount of fan service relative to all other boy-oriented manga. Link your comments to almost every single chapter of Fairy Tale to show you’re not just trying to point fingers at specific manga or authors like Oda. And even if it is sexism, so what? What the hell do you expect in a world of pirates and scientists that kidnap children for experiments? Or its okay because the bad guy does it? Or in your mind, is Luffy a good guy that just happened to outbreak all the world’s most dangerous criminals without a care?

Perhaps you should also make a case of all the violent one-man army video games that has a protagonist that kills hundreds of people casually, because literally hundreds of modern day stories from all the world over have all of this and more. You’re just trying to make a problem and start trouble where no one else in its demographic cares. Try going to porn sites and go rant about videos in their own comments section, saying that they give blatant acts of women as nothing more than sex toys. Guess what, its the same thing here with cool dudes do cool things with cute sexy women around, which is what most shonen are about. Its literally ingrained into what the genre is. Seriously, its like complaining about GTA being GTA or South Park being South Park. What the hell do you expect?

I’m astonished Oda still has put story first above base appeals like sex. Its a tertiary priority for him to include nice bodies for women, and even then, for most of the plot many women are just as deformed as the men. An unwritten law about the genre is to also not make ‘ugly’ women for the “good guys”, so of course he has to uphold it to some degree. If you can’t take that then please get the hell out of this site because you’re going to continue seeing a ton of it from almost everywhere.

How can you be offended at the statement “to make an honest woman of someone” anyway?

Are you possibly dissatisfied with the notion of gender roles that a traditional married and faithful woman has more worth than a woman that lies around while there isn’t a phrase for men with that connotation? It simply goes hand in hand with the age old phrase, that honesty is the best policy. And yes, I would actually bring up this sexism debate, because I’ve seen way too much complaints about Oda’s portrayal of women and their valid claims of his art style having women with an incredibly unrealistic hourglass shape.

While I’m at it, let me include a writer’s worries when introducing a new female character, which may explain the lack of any female character development or new female introductions in relative contrast to male development for this series.

Also, I think Oda is doing a fine job at drawing the lines between male and female interactions when the male wins a fight, as you can see here, if Oda really wanted to have a realistic depiction of how female pirates were treated after losing a fight, needless to say, you know what would have happened. Instead, Blackbeard got kicked in the face and decided to leave her for the marines to capture without any depiction of violence against her from his end.

In contrast would be the gentleman attitude Sanji has that caused Zoro to fight Monet and Nami to fight Kalifa on his behalf, and to the extreme opposite, Spandam dragging Robin by her hair and being extremely violent with her.

I think it just works because you consider it in context, that a villain has to do appropriate things to show the readers his worth as an antagonist before getting stomped, and I think its inappropriate how most people focus solely on making a fuss on the violence against women when guys in this series at most times get beaten to near death by women without retaliation.

Personally it is hard to write a story where the females are stronger than the males, like Fate/Stay Night where Shirou is all but outclassed by every single female in the VN, Mikasa stomping Eren against the wall in Shingeki no Kyojin and being higher ranked in the graduating recon corps squad etc. And yet there was entire pages worth of complaints that Mikasa adds nothing to the plot, she should have died in her time of weakness instead of having that copout, she has no characterisation other than being strong female A that hounds the main male character etc.

In general, it is hard to portray females as stronger than males unless taken to extremes like DanganRonpa’s Sakura, but that is literally too extreme, as people or the male audience would obviously get turned off due to a natural instinct to protect damsel in distress as another trope from long ago.

I really hope anyone that argues against that anyone that doesn’t admit a “fatal flaw of sexism” in One Piece doesn’t just label any arguments as a fanboy’s ranting.

“Sexism is frightfully dismissed in reality and more so on the internet.”
Are you scared of other people equally entitled to their opinions, even as ignorant as they may be? I don’t think ignoring blatant sexism in any case is a major crime worth being fearful of as you say. Rather, why are the misguided opinions of anyone you would never interact with willingly so stinging to you? Isn’t people of different ideologies coming together to enjoy a fine story without scrutiny the cornerstone of fictional works?

Like the mostly ignored theme of the first arc of the new Monogatari season suggests, it is impossible to pretend to be free of human flaws without severe repercussions, would you still seek to impose that on every single reader of One Piece?

Don’t mind these rape-sensitive folk, Seishun, it’s rather hard not to offend them, they see rape in everything.What you wrote could just as easily meant a guy being sexually aggressive, it’s not your fault they interpreted what you wrote as rape.

And if you guys think this is in bad taste, all you have to do is stop reading it, easy solution.What’s with this obsession with rape anyway?It’s not like violence and other morally wrong stuff isn’t taken lightly or treated as jokes in manga/anime, you guys don’t seem to have a problem with that.How does your moral compass work?Rape-sensitive?Women-sensitive(you know, since the usual rape-sensitive people only complain about rape of women, when the victim is male it doesn’t seem to register to them as rape)?

@Giorno Giovanna
Agree with you on so many points, people, allegedly, want female characters that are realistic,human but they also have to be strong,unattractive – never mind if it creates a self-contradictory character.Another a more amusing one would be wanting strong female characters capable of fighting but doesn’t want to see women being beaten up because that’s violence against women*facepalm*.

@TheOrangeOne You raise a fair point about the realities of the Shounen genre that I don’t necessarily disagree with. If you read my comment more carefully though you would notice that I specifically refer to Oda’s regressive depiction of female characters over time. i.e he has previously showcased more variety and discernment with female character designs earlier in his career. Since I’ve had high regard for him in the past, I’d naturally set higher expectations on his ability to continue bucking conventions.

@Anon I think it’s a clear oversight not to discern “Pin her down and make her a woman” as potentially offensive. It’s certainly no stretch to argue that it alludes to rape as plenty have deduced. Coupled with the unfortunate image at the top, out of context it reads as discrimination on the author’s part.

What I’ve argued for in this instance is less generic Nami/Robin clones and more character/individuality akin to One Piece of old. One of the many reasons I’m a fan of Perona, Ivankov and Miss Valentine.

Exactly, that’s what YOU think, not Seishun, not me, certainly not plenty of people here.First you misinterpret something that’s written, then you blame the author for your misinterpretation – have you considered maybe you’re the one in the wrong?I don’t even know how discrimination enters the picture here.

I’m not surprised at the least that discrimination is lost on you, Anon. Your arguments come across as that of a bumbling bigot. To begin, Kuruma authored the colloquial phrase and Seishun, a willing participant, ignorantly appropriated into his own writing without assessing the glaringly obvious connotations to non-consensual sexual activity. You shot yourself in the foot when you apologetically suggested that it “could just as easily meant a guy being sexually aggressive”. How the fuck is that remotely acceptable? It’s the same thing – violent behavior focused on sexual gratification regardless of the other’s consent. Seishun’s unrepentant negligence to rectify the title is furthermore discrimination towards the valid concerns of critically minded readers, no matter his original intent – or in this case misguided judgment. Just because a large majority on here share a lack of discernment doesn’t automatically put them in the right. Hide behind ignorance and shallow reasoning all you like. The fact remains that the the joint wording “Pin her down & make her a woman” is imbued with sexual discrimination. Furthermore it is disgustingly narrow-minded to turn a blind eye and instead foolishly labeling the insightful opinions of others as “rape-sensitive folk”.

@Seishun, on behalf of the minority here, we ask that you please re-title this page to something more egalitarian and advise exercising better judgement next time when blogging on a privileged writing platform.

@Kage: I’m a girl and I have to say this, you’re the one who’s starting sounds like a bumbling bigot. You’re making this discussion all about you and your narrow-mindedness. People like you are the reason why sexism is blown up. I’m a married career woman with a kid on the way and I can appreciate a good joke like this one.
@Seishun: I hope you don’t change the title and give in to Kage’s rudeness. I enjoyed your work and the title you have picked for us.

“Seishun’s unrepentant negligence to rectify the title is furthermore discrimination towards the valid concerns of critically minded readers, no matter his original intent – or in this case misguided judgment.”

It seems everyone’s misguided to you. However, it also seems that you’re the one that got pinned down and taken to town.

@Lola Your sex gives no leverage, I’m afraid. Woman can be equally desensitized to these issues. This isn’t about me and I never intend it to be. It’s about the questionable Title and the idea of people conscientiously defending it – multiple people have drawn attention to its offensive connotations, not just me. There are at least 20 or so people here who understand that. Sincerely though, all the best with your kid.

@John Smith Ctrl + F is all you have to add? Thank you for that thoughtful contribution. In my case I was using ‘fuck’ as a modifier to add emphasis, not against any person – only astonishment at their logic. I’m amused that somehow ranks me as the bigot to you. My apologies if the word personally offends you.

@Kage: You think you’re doing the ladies a favor, but you’re not and you’re just making it worse. Some of us just want to enjoy the post as it is and not make a drama out of every little thing. You’re being too full of yourself and I hope you can eventually see that.

Also, couldn’t agree more that the SH need a new female combatant. I was holding out hope for Perona over the years, but at least Rebecca has the physical prowess as a gladiator which elevates her chances.

personally, i think it’s just Oda developing his artstyle more towards a certain direction. Where One Piece has been a deformed character manga with many fat and unusual manga characters, the main characters also gets their deformation over the years.

I really don’t think an apology was even needed for something written sincerely in jest.

On top of his explanation of wordplay logic being legit, I really don’t think there’s grounds for a rape discussion.

So is it really impossible for a man to hold down a woman that’s attempting assassination on him without a sexist debate?

Honestly, since it’s Luffy in question and Oda’s writing, after he said romance would not be the focus of One Piece, but rather traditional shounen, from this perspective, its hard to see that there was any sexism or ill intention in that scene.

I do believe this is my first time commenting on RC, though I’ve been reading since before Omni left. The title of this post is pretty darn offensive, coupled with the image of a female character being violently knocked to the ground. You guys can say that it’s just a joke, but for me, as a girl, and as someone who knows people who have been pinned down and “made a woman,” it’s horribly unfunny.

Bringing Sanji’s archaic chauvinism into the discussion doesn’t help though, Giorno. A man should be able to face a respectably strong female opponent tbh.

But guys, at the end of the day it’s just a shounen manga – I was commenting more on the lack of diversity in his heroic female designs in OP which can come off as exploitative. It’s everywhere in Japan, I’m aware of that – being a manga that sells 4-Million doesn’t really excuse the lack of originality IMHO. In the past, Oda used to be a little more imaginative when designing appealing females – I’ve come to terms with the fact that Oda’s diversity has waned in that regard as his style has naturally evolved. People have said that Rebecca looks too much like Nami for example, I think that is a fair and honest observation. I didn’t mean to infer that OP is outright sexist (that’d be silly – I’m sorry for coming across that way), but the trending depiction of heroic woman can come across as negligent discrimination on Oda’s part – which can be difficult for mainstream artists to overcome, I know. Personally, I would like to think that Oda (being the success that he is) could break past those conventions, but I don’t expect that to happen.

Yes! I’ve had my fingers crossed that Rebecca would join the Strawhats since she first appeared. I found her interesting, especially since, with all the new characters appearing, she seemed to one of the more memorable. Still, all in favour of Leo joining, and would be overjoyed if either got the Mera-Mera fruit, it would be brilliant. That said, having Kine’mon and Momosuke stick around would be fun too. Sooooo many new crew possibilities, it would be a crime if they left this arc without someone!

Not sure about Bartolomeo joining just yet though. Can’t decide whether he would be a good character to add to their ranks, or would simply get annoying after a while…and as far as I’m concerned the Fishman spot is reserved for Jimbei! True, power-wise he would be a useful edition if Luffy is serious about opposing the Four Emperors and the Marine Admirals, but I’m going to wait and see how his story arc plays out.

Oh Luffy, you prioritize food even in a fight and you can make anyone onto your side (eventually).
I like how characters just flip their image/personality, or just go nuts for a moment. That’s to say, Bartolomeo has so many different expressions in this chapter I could not stop laughing with his face so menacing at the same time.

Ever since her appearance, I was already considering that Luffy might give her Ace’s devil fruit. Something about her character introduction, maybe the fact that she had quite more panel time.
To be honest, I wanted the first Logia user to join the Straw Hats to be a loli since they don’t already have one, but a skeleton, a cyborg and a reindeer instead? In my opinion with the male to female ratio of the crew, Nami and Robin being the young and mature women, they could really use a loli or an old lady, and I’m pretty sure the choice between those is obvious.
And obviously I wasn’t expecting Ace’s abilities to be brought back into the game this early.

Easy fix – why not just change the title again to “Pin Her Down & Make Her an Honest Woman!” so that the unintended allusion to making her a woman (taking her virginity) is lost? I do find it a bit weird people jump to that conclusion, as if Seishun could be promoting rape. However, this would show that it wasn’t intended. Or just change it back to the old title.
Anyhow, on topic more – Yes to Rebecca joining the crew and getting a fruit!

More like, take off her helmet and she looks just like Nami with braids, lol. Not that Im complaining :3

I can already sense the Impel Down vibe from this arc, I can already see Don Chinjao, Bartolomeo, and even Rebecca all becoming allies in the battle against Don Flamingo. Along with the army of dwarves and toy soldiers as well. Its going to be a grand epic battle, one that Flamingo didnt see coming.